Picantes lose tight one to Locos

(Eastlake, OH) - The Picantes de Lake County (10-7, 50-36) lost to the Locos de Lansing (9-8, 41-45) on Sunday afternoon at Classic Park, 3-2.
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The Locos struck first with two runs in the third inning. Captains starter Thomas Ponticelli hit LJ Talley with a pitch and walked Hunter Steinmetz to begin the inning. The Picantes caught a break when Quentin Holmes snagged a liner to center off the bat of Otto Lopez and fired to second to double off Talley. Gabriel Moreno, however, battled through an 11-pitch at-bat and laced an RBI double down the left field line. Griffin Conine then socked the next pitch into right for an RBI single to give Lansing a 2-0 lead.
Lake County pulled within one run in the bottom of the third. Josh Rolette reached on an error by Lopez at shortstop to begin the frame and Daniel Schneemann roped a double off the right field wall to put runners on second and third. Two batters later, Holmes hit a towering pop up into shallow right field that fell between Talley, the second baseman, and Conine, the right fielder. Rolette scored on the RBI single to cut Lansing's lead to 2-1.
The Captains tied the score in the seventh inning. First baseman Jake Brodt fanned on a grounder by Rolette, putting the leadoff hitter on second with a two-base error. Daniel Schneemann followed with a single to put runners on the corners and Makesiondon Kelkboom evened the score with a sacrifice fly to centerfield.
The game remained tied until the top of the ninth when Lansing grabbed the 3-2 lead. The Locos loaded the bases on a leadoff single by Steinmetz, a one-out infield hit by Moreno and a two-out walk to Ryan Gold. Lefty reliever Kellen Rholl then walked Johnny Aiello to force home Steinmetz with the go-ahead run.
Reliever Will McAffer took home the win for Lansing McAffer (2-3) pitched three innings and allowed one unearned run on one hit. He struck out three and did not issue a walk. Juan Nunez earned his first save, working around a one-out single by Cody Farhat in the ninth and leaving the tying run on second base.
Lake County has lost the first two games of this three-game series and will wrap up the series with Lansing on Monday. First pitch at Classic Park is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
Individual game tickets for all Captains games are on sale at the Classic Park box office, online at captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). Mini ticket plans for the 2019 season are still available for great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.